Amazon Hires Jay Carney, Former Obama Press Secretary

Amazon, a technology company obsessed with secrecy, is hiring a former press secretary for President Obama, whose administration has been widely criticized for its aggressive leak investigations.

Jay Carney, who resigned as the president’s chief spokesman last spring, is joining Amazon as senior vice president for global corporate affairs, a new position, the retailer said Thursday.

It is an unusual hire for the Seattle-based company, which tends to groom its talent internally rather than bring in prominent outsiders. Mr. Carney, who begins his new job on Monday, will report to Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s founder and chief executive.

Mr. Carney will oversee both public relations and public policy. Amazon has been very successful as a lobbyist on issues like state sales taxes and the use of portable devices during airplane takeoffs and landings. On the public relations front, it generally has kept quiet, part of its efforts to disclose as little as possible about its business activities.

Mr. Carney’s hiring comes only a few months after Amazon finally ended its high-profile dispute with the publisher Hachette, a conflict that generated reams of bad publicity.

Craig Berman, an Amazon spokesman, confirmed the hiring but declined to comment further. Mr. Carney, who joined CNN in September after leaving the White House, declined to be interviewed. His hiring was first reported by Politico.

The path from Washington to high-tech is becoming well-worn. Technology companies are pouring money into lobbying as the industry seeks to extend its influence, and brand-name figures are signing up to lead the efforts.

Amazon’s Washington office has been led by Paul Misener, a lawyer who is best known for his efforts on the sales tax issue. Amazon has strategically withdrawn from its long-held position of not collecting the tax, which gave it a marked advantage over brick-and-mortar stores.

Now it is using the promise of warehouses and jobs to garner deals with the states in return for gradually phasing in collection of the tax. The company also says it supports a national solution, but legislators have been unable to devise a measure that all sides can support.

Amazon spent nearly $5 million on lobbying in 2014, twice what it spent a mere two years before. It is spending more than Apple but less than Google or Facebook.

Mr. Carney was a journalist for Time magazine for nearly two decades. He was the Washington bureau chief in 2008 when he went to work for Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. He became Mr. Obama’s second press secretary in early 2011. He will split his time between Washington, D.C., and Seattle.

The phrase “Amazon declined to comment” got 371,000 hits on Google. The company does not even deny stories that are not true. The Wall Street Journal created a sensation last fall when it wrote that Amazon was opening “the first brick-and-mortar outlet” in its 20-year history in New York “in time for the holiday-shopping season.” After weeks of frenzy, Amazon made clear it was not planning a traditional store anytime soon.

Never exactly reluctant to be ambitious, Amazon has recently been increasing the size and frequency of its bets. It is borrowing billions to invest in India and produce video content, to take just two large-scale initiatives.

After a sour 2014, Wall Street once again likes what it sees. The retailer’s shares are up sharply this year, flirting with a record high, and most — but not all — analysts are enthusiastic.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page B8 of the New York edition with the headline: Former Obama Press Secretary Is Hired by Amazon in New Post. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe